Condition self-motivation engine for getting the best out of the best

There are two types of motivation. Self and External. They are generally inseparable. Motivation is a trigger to act. Action always results from a combination of internal and external factors.

However strong the influence of external factors, true motivation is essentially internal. While it usually does take something external to trigger it. No external factor alone will trigger any action. What triggers motivation are desires – ones that are responsible for self-motivation. By birth, all have a tremendous amount of self-motivation. While we grow, we get conditioned and will be driven by external factors.

Once the inquisitiveness about everything we observe, touch, explore and constantly learn takes a back-seat, our actions change and become slack. That’s when we need external motivation. At work, interventions, policies, and systems are designed and deployed to create this trigger – either through rewards or punishments. But slowly, you get punished-by-rewards. Our innate self-motivation engine starts to always look for the external reward mechanisms to perform.

Even to get the best out of best people, those who are entrepreneurs, explorers, and innovators, you will start requiring external stimuli in terms of rewards. For some, it is rewards, recognition, money, position and so on. Look out for what motivates you and why. Mostly, this is what makes you proud-of-yourself. In your own eyes, and then the rest of the company. Exercise the factors carefully like the way you work with body-building or fitness regime. Condition your self-motivation engine to perform better than its current normal. Slowly, this will reduce the external stimuli to just enough to ignite the self-motivation engine. You will get the best out of the best people, starting with yourself.